The American Cancer Society has released a new study indicating that a shocking number of people who beat cancer continue to smoke.
Curiously, smoking is most common among survivors of lung and bladder cancer.
ACS researchers found that about one in ten cancer survivors smoke, often continuing to do so many years after finishing treatment.
"Undergoing cancer treatment is very stressful and [survivors] look at tobacco use as a way to cope with this diagnosis," said Chunkit Fung of the Wilmot Cancer Institute. "Around 9.6 percent of cancer survivors, by nine years after their treatment for cancer, are still current smokers."
Fung added that smoking during chemotherapy treatment increases the toxicity of the regimen, makes wound healing more difficult following surgery, and boosts their risk of developing a secondary cancer.
"Health systems may not be paying enough attention to smoking in cancer survivors," said Lee Westmass of the ACS. "So we wanted to increase awareness of the fact that yes some survivors smoke and we need to do something about it."
Source: TWC News
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